False Magic
by XphiaDP
Summary: Prince Kaito wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting when he walked into the curious building he found while exploring but a teenage detective who stumbles over bodies ever other day was definitely not it. So now he plays Kid, apprentice detective, following along with Shinichi's misadventures, hoping that the curse isn't contagious.
1. Chapter 1

"If you're asking me about a job, I suggest you remove the disguise or leave. I won't work for anyone who doesn't even trust me enough to show their real face."

To say the least, that was the last thing Kaito had expected when walking into the small library like building. The male at the shelves barely even spared a glance in his direction when the small chime alerted him of a new presence before he returned to his books and yet he was able to tell that the face Kaito wore wasn't his own.

Granted, it wasn't that much different from his usual appearance. He put to use his signature fast drying dye to chance his mousy mop to blond and green contacts hid his unique eyes. That would normally be enough for a simple outing on the town but Kaito was nothing if not cautious, so contouring had his facial structure looking rounder and maybe a little younger than he actually was. Throw in a spare set of stable hand clothes he stole from a storage closet and the image was complete. Not one of his best, but it did the job nonetheless.

"And what if I wasn't in here for a job," Kaito inquired at the male as the other pulled a few dusty tomes from the shelf and moved to a desk. _Kudo Shinichi_ , the magician noted from a plaque hidden amongst the files and general clutter.

Shinichi coughed as he opened one of the books sending a spray of dust straight into his face. As he waved it away, he leveled a glare at Kaito who had walked over to stare curiously at the books. "I would kindly ask you to leave and stop wasting my time then." And he promptly began flipping through what appeared to be a book about poisonous plants and their properties.

 _Ouch._ That tone could probably ice over the cook's hearth back home and that thing was hotter than most deserts, Kaito swore it. Hands up in a show of peace, he backed away a few steps and promptly fell into one of the cushioned chairs set just across from the desk, looking as if he wasn't about to move anytime soon, eliciting something that straddled the line of a groan and sigh from the other.

"Alright, fine. I give. What do you want?" he asked impatiently finally looking Kaito in the eyes and _wow_ hiding a blue that clear behind such large glasses should be illegal.

"Just to satisfy some curiosity," Kaito hummed, propping his feet up on the desk, satisfied to have finally gotten through to the other. Shinichi grumbled something inaudible under his breath and shoved the feet back to the floor and Kaito's smirk grew. "What is this place?"

He had seen it a few times on various outings while ducking through side roads to avoid the guards. From the outside, it was completely nondescript. Just an average two-story building just a short way off main. Windows showed walls of books leading to the assumption of a library of sorts with a teen librarian puttering around inside but there already was a public library and this most certainly wasn't it. The inquiry about a job held a few promising leads but nothing that Kaito could use to get an answer.

"Well, by all technicalities, it's my _home_ which you just decided to waltz into with nothing more than an over-zealous hello," Shinichi snarked as a response, "but I guess you could also say it's something of a detective agency."

That had Kaito's eyebrows shooting towards his hairline. Detective, huh? Most didn't bother with the practice as the guards stationed around town handled most things. They even had various security spells stationed on the roofs to capture any suspicious activity and alert the officials.

"Aren't you a little young to be a detective?" he asked leaning forward, chin propped on intertwined hands.

"Aren't you a little young to be traversing about the city in a disguise?" A pointed look.

"Touché." An acknowledging tilt of the head.

A short silence fell shortly after that as Kaito processed the information and tried to fit it into what he had figured out about the place and its odd occupant and Shinichi sat behind his desk and began flipping through a file and book, begrudgingly resigned to the sudden company.

"You got a name?" Surprisingly enough, it was Shinichi who broke the silence.

Kaito didn't set down the magnifying glass he had swiped from the desk and only grinned with a single ginormous eye gleaming in the detective's direction. "Call me Kid."

"But that's not your real name." There wasn't a trace of doubt in the tone and Kaito hadn't been expecting otherwise.

"'Course not."

Shinichi rolled his eyes and eventually an open file landed in front of Kaito, a small rune drawn in the corner to signify a magic image, probably from the scene of the crime. He cast a questioning look at Shinichi who only dipped a quill into the inkwell.

"If your going to sit there, you might as well make yourself useful," he reasoned nonchalantly. "You seem smart if not a little unorthodox. Show me what you got."

A test then. Piece of cake. He set down the magnifying glass and stretched his fingers before setting to work. Scanning over the details of the case, the alibis of the suspects, and descriptions of each individual, it all lined up less than a twenty minutes later.

"As cliché as this turns out to be, it's the butler," Kaito stated dropping the papers down in front of Shinichi. He prided himself on the slightly startled look he got from the sudden motion.

"You didn't even look at the image. How did you figure that one out?" Shinichi asked, eyebrow raised, stance confident.

Kaito only smiled and fell back into the chair he had officially claimed as his. "No need. He's the only one with access to the victim's private chambers and while yes, the wife technically also had a key, her alibi of working with the full moon checks out. Scrying of that force is the only thing that can leave a blue green haze over one's eyes and she had the remains of it. Not to mention the traces of thyme and fresh rose which suggests the brewing of what's probably a love potion on her hands which again, can only be done during a full moon for a powerful affect. The daughter wasn't even in the house at the time and there's no possible way she could get from the pub to the manor in the amount of time she had. So that leaves the butler as the only one capable of even attempting the crime."

Shinichi hummed vaguely and set down his quill. "What about evidence? Is there a motive?"

"This poison stains and there's evidence that it had been spilled prior to placement. Test the shoes and socks and you'll have your evidence. As for motive, my best guess is revenge. The guy's sister "accidentally" died a year or so ago and charges were either never pushed or were dropped. So, Tantei-kun, how'd I do?" Kaito leaned forward to send the other a challenging smirk.

The other only inclined his head with the faintest of smiles on his lips. "Not bad, not bad. For a beginner at least." The smile grew at the affronted gasp from the person in front of him. "You probably could have solved this quicker if you bothered to look at the scene of the crime, but you did well, Kid."

Kaito stood straight, manifesting a top hat tipping it into a showman's bow. He placed it on his head and ran his fingers along the grin in a motion that was equally smug and showy that only caused Shinichi to roll his eyes.

The detective looked as if he was about to say something before the door slammed open, the bell loudly protesting its sudden shaking. Both boys startled from their conversation and turned to the person who barged into the agency.

"Takagi." Shinichi was already moving to grab his coat while the man in question caught his breath, hand braced against the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Murder—Bomb—"

Kaito watched as the color dropped from Shinichi's face and was hot on his heels by the time the detective crossed the threshold. The footsteps pounding behind them let him know that Takagi was right behind them.

"What's going on?" he asked, finally managing to match Shinichi's pace.

"We've been tracking a serial murderer for the past few weeks. We set up a trap to get him, but it looks like things went south," Shinichi explained as he swerved left into a crowd of frantic soldiers. A thin man stood in the middle of it all, restrained, smirking, and not struggling in the least. Kaito wrinkled his nose as they neared. He reeked of dark magic.

The guards let Shinichi pass without a second thought and with the close to murderous look on Shinichi's face hidden under a mask of controlled professionalism, Kaito understood the wide berth given.

"Where is it?" Shinichi demanded coming to a stop in front of the man. Silence.

 _"Where is it?"_ Harsher this time, hands fisting by his sides. The smirk grew and Shinichi growled, whipping off his glasses. After looking the guy over once, he turned on his heel and slid the eyewear back on.

"Beika park, fire-based spell, shields in place. We have half an hour left."

And they were off again.

"How did you…?" Kaito trailed off as they ran knowing this wasn't the time to be asking questions.

Shinichi didn't answer and only pushed on ahead. "You know magic." It hadn't been a question. "Any experience with fire?" At Kaito's slow nod, he continued, "Good, because I'm going to need your help to dismantle this thing."

Kaito went dead silent for a moment as the words processed in his mind before he looked to Shinichi incredulously. _"What?!"_

They neared the park and Shinichi veered off into a small grove of trees ordering the people to evacuate. Confusion rippled in whispers through the people before guards began showing up and escorting everyone off the premises. Needless to say, the park was soon empty except for him and Shinichi.

The detective knelt by a patch of newly upturned dirt and brushed away the soil until a dull red glow appeared and rune marks floated on the surface of the small sphere.

It was a complex spell, a few shields and a good few powerful spells woven into a condensed ball of power. It was actually quite beautiful from a magician's standpoint but it most certainly wasn't the most impressive spell Kaito had ever seen. His father could do so much better.

"Kid, I ¬know you know how to take this thing apart and if I touch it, I promise it'll go off," Shinichi spoke softly, an uncharacteristic helplessness tinting the tone, and Kaito felt something in him give. Taking a deep breath, he nodded and pulled the spell from the ground. Shinichi stepped back to give him some space.

The shield had to come off first. That was what was making this thing so dangerous. If someone using magic were to come in contact with the force, the entire thing would go off. The problem with that was most magic users couldn't _stop_ using their magic. It was as instinctual as breathing. It bled from their fingertips and soaked into the earth. Only extremely skilled sorcerers could suppress their use and be able to bypass this shield. So in order to take this thing apart, you had to be in the extremely small percentile of magic users that could do that or the even smaller percentile of the non-magic population who still had enough knowledge to dismantle the thing. It was a good thing Kaito was a part of that small population.

His fingers worked quickly as he tore apart the runes and rearranged them into something more favorable for them and less likely to blow up in their faces. Then came the process of unweaving the various spells meant to create the explosions. He had to work fast. They were running out of time.

Twenty-eight minutes and fifty-seven seconds later, several strings of magic lay untangled and frayed in front of him and he fell back on his hands, exhausted. Shinichi let out the breath he was holding in and the guards all seemed to slump as relief blanketed over them.

He did it.

Megure, the city guard's commander, stepped forward to congratulate the two before ordering someone else to clean up the remains. He sent them both off with orders to get some lunch and probably some sleep. They deserved it. He could get their statements later.

Which was how Kaito found himself back at the detective agency but this time upstairs in what was probably Shinichi's living quarters with a plate of takeout and an exhausted detective in front of him.

"You did well." Shinichi nursed a cup of liquified death while picking at his own food.

Kaito hummed.

"I'm… sorry for dragging you into all of this… I just—Well, I knew that we weren't going to get out of that without your help."

Kaito swallowed and paused for a moment. "How'd you know?"

Shinichi offered an almost sad smile in return. "That you can't use actual magic? Honestly, I had my speculations since you walked through my door. Most disguises are mere perception filters because it's easier to slip by because no one sees the same person. You're wearing a physical disguise." Kaito tugged on his falsely blond hair. "But I figured it out when you didn't look at the file image. It wasn't because you didn't need it. It was because you physically couldn't see it."

Well, it looks like the secret was out then. Kaito sighed and set down his chopsticks, hands raised in defeat, head bowed. A white handkerchief appeared in his hand as a sign of surrender. "You got me. Can't hide anything from you Tantei-kun."

There was a quick huff that could technically be called laughter across the table and Kaito smiled at his small victory. Vanishing the cloth in a small puff of smoke, he leaned back in his chair, watching his current partner. The detective seemed to be going through a mental debate.

There was a moment of silence.

"Work with me."

And that was where Kaito lost track of what happened because somehow he agreed for reasons currently unknown to him, was handed a small badge which served as a communication device, a few case files, and promptly shoved out the door. He must have made his way back to home in his weird daze because the next thing Kaito knew, someone was rapping at his bedroom door because the prince was needed for dinner.

 _What?_


	2. Chapter 2

**So college is hard and I haven't had much time to write or plan in general but I managed to get this together. Sorry for such a long wait.**

The next time Kaito communicated with Shinichi it was through the badges and not about any of the cases the Shinichi had shoved on the other the last time they saw each other.

"So where'd you get these things anyways?" Kaito asked while he flipped through one of the books on manners and etiquette his tutor forced on him after the woman caught him dyeing Hakuba's hair bright pink for the third time that week. They were honestly just a giant waste of paper. He had manners to convince even the most traditional that he was nothing but a golden child. It just wasn't fun to be that way all the time.

There was a slight shift of paper on the other end of the line and Shinichi's voice soon crackled through, becoming clearer as he spoke. "Kid? It's three in the morning."

"And yet you sound wide awake."

There was a pause and soon the voice appeared again, "I'd like to note that you do too."

"I'm a night owl," Kaito dismissed. "But seriously, where'd you get these things?"

Shinichi sighed and there was a small creak of wood, as if the detective was leaning back in his chair. "A family friend made them for a small group of kids he watches over. I thought they were useful and asked him to make some."

"Huh. Neat."

He could practically hear Shinichi's raised eyebrow.

* * *

"Did… Did you send me a joke file? This case seriously can't be real." Kaito sputtered into the badge as he flipped through one of the case files Shinichi had thrown at him.

"Which one is it?"

"A unicorn, _a mythical creature that doesn't exist_ , apparently stabbed someone?"

"Yeah, no. That's a real case. Have fun with that." There was an amused, almost sing-song quality to Shinichi's voice.

"I hate you."

* * *

"So, how plausible is it for someone to shrink themselves to age ten accidentally from a spell backfiring?"

"The heck, Shinichi?"

"That's what they're claiming! Something about trying to keep their looks young."

"Well they certainly got the "young" part there…" Kaito sighed. "How do you always get the weird ones?"

* * *

"I'm bored. Entertain me."

"No."

"Killjoy."

* * *

And so they went on. They mainly talked through the badges as it was rare that Kaito could sneak away from the castle and the duties expected of a coming-of-age prince, but Kid made his appearances when called upon or when royal life simply got to be too suffocating to bear.

Shinichi was always a welcome distraction and the teen proved to be a rather interesting conversation partner. He was smart (there was absolutely no point in denying that) and appeared to be rather cold and cynical on the surface if his initial meeting with Kaito proved anything but after enough pestering and prodding, Kaito found a rather sarcastic, almost vindictively mischievous side to the detective that was extremely fun to bounce off of. Not to mention, Shinichi could actually keep up an intellectual conversation with him and not get lost in the almost backwards leaps in logic that left Hakuba in the dust and thus a pointless conversation partner. Well, that wasn't including his stick-in-the-mud poshness that disqualified him anyways. Hakuba was a nuisance and that was that.

Annoying blond detective aside (Shinichi was much better anyways), Kaito liked Shinichi. He was a challenge, a rival, a mystery, a friend. But… There were times… There were _things_ that made him wonder what he had gotten himself into.

The way death seemed to follow Shinichi like a foreboding cloud notwithstanding, there was those all too knowing eyes of his, hidden behind glasses and light. They were eyes that could pierce and guard and hide. Eyes that see too much of the world around them and _have had_ seen the darkest deeds that reality had to offer.

Kaito couldn't read them, those cold sapphires. They were like twin pools of clear water that when looking down into them, you'd expect to be able to see the bottom clearly, see the sand and shells, but you only find more water and even more until even light itself doesn't even reach. Those eyes were deceptively open only to reveal you see nothing if you tried to look. While Kaito would never say that that scared him, it certainly… unnerved him. It almost felt that if you tried to dive deeper to understand, to see, you'd only end up drowning.


	3. Chapter 3

Kaito was actually proud for how long he had been able to keep his little second life a secret from Aoko and Hakuba. But as a member of the royal guard and one in training, he should have seen it coming, which was why he was currently wandering the streets of the lower town as Kid with two known guards trailing behind him. The sarcastic and often suggestive comments from the said guards didn't seem to help the situation because both seemed to be under the impression that he'd been sneaking out to see a girl.

He kind of hated them both.

Walking around town was nice though. People waved to him in the streets and shouted greetings. A few kids ran up and asked if he could give one of their shows later. It was getting a little hard to keep up his childish pout in the face of all their cheer.

A few months of communicating through badges and skipping down to town when he could, he had managed to establish quite a life as Kid. They seemed to like him even if it had only begun because he was a connection of Shinichi's (who was well loved throughout the town in general) though that seemed to change over the course of the time, and they grew to genuinely like Kid. Which was great because Kaito also really loved them. It was nice to have a way to get to know his people without the fanfare of a princely visit.

"So it's Kid here?" Hakuba asked with a raised eyebrow as the baker called out a good morning.

"Yes, and I would rather like it to stay that way," Kaito said rather curtly as he waved to the man as they passed. "So if you both could keep quiet about the… _other stuff,_ it would be much appreciated."

Aoko hummed as she walked alongside Kaito, a slightly mischievous smile quirking at her lips. "Kai- Oh ah, um, _Kid_ ," she corrected after a quick glare. "Wasn't that your stage name back when you first started your," she pantomimed tipping a hat, "'magic.'"

Hakuba tried to withhold a small snort of laughter because he was _supposed_ to be a gentleman but from the glare Kaito gave them both it was clear he wasn't entirely successful in that endeavor.

The magician threw his hands up in the air and stormed ahead a few feet as he spotted the Kudo residence. "Why am I even friends with you two!" he shouted as he threw open the door to reveal Shinichi at one of the shelves looking to him with an elegantly raised eyebrow.

"Why are you friends with who two?" he asked as Kaito stomped in and plopped himself in the armchair that had somehow managed to become his in the time they've been working together.

Kaito didn't even dignify him with an answer and only gestured vaguely towards the door as he plopped his chin into his hand and tried to set fire to Shinichi's already half dead houseplant with the sheer force of his glare.

More than curious to see what had gotten his normally calm partner so worked up, Shinichi reinserted the book he was holding in its proper place and started towards the door only to stop short as two castle guards walked through his door.

They were off duty and out of their typical armor but the badges and weapons were impossible not to notice and besides, he recognized one of them from previous cases.

"So this is where your mysterious friend lives?" the blond started before his eyes landed on the "mysterious friend" and there was a second of visible recoil. "Kudo Shinichi?"

"Hakuba Sugaru," Shinichi greeted politely, head tilting in a small nod. "I assume you are the two people Kid was referring to just now."

There was a frustrated grumble from a chair that had been forcibly dragged over to the corner and Shinichi was so going to have Kid pay if he messed up his floors and the female guard stepped up. "That would be us. I'm Nakamori Aoko and you seem to already know Hakuba." She held out a hand and Shinichi shook it politely.

"Pleasure to meet you, Nakamori, and yes, we've worked some cases together in the past."

"Of _course_ you have," grumbled the corner and Shinichi withheld a small laugh of his own.

Hakuba seemed to finally get over his initial shock and he stepped forward. " _You're_ the one Kid has been sneaking out to see this entire time?" he asked incredulously which earned him the same questioning look Kaito had gotten moments earlier.

"I believe so. Kid's been helping me on cases and providing a lot of magical insight to a lot of the problems."

Hakuba sputtered for a moment. " _Him_ helping on cases?"

Shinichi only nodded and Hakuba seemed to be torn between staring at Shinichi in complete bewilderment and glaring at Kid who was still sulking in the background. Shinichi glanced over to Aoko and then his eyes darted back over to Hakuba.

Aoko stepped up to answer Shinichi's unspoken question. "Kid's always been more likely to hinder us in investigations than actually do any real help. Hakuba is a favorite target for when he wants to try out his own brand of magic," she explained and Shinichi nodded in understanding. While he was fairly good at predicting when Kid was going to do something out of the ordinary, he'd fortunately never been a victim to it. Though it was amusing to see some of the criminals they caught fall prey to Kid's schemes.

"He deserves it!" The voice had moved from the corner to right behind him and Shinichi only had seconds to adjust his footing before a human-sized weight draped itself over his shoulders. "He's too much of a stick in the mud," Kaito grumbled.

"I'm right here you know."

"Yup," he popped the 'p' and Hakuba sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose beginning to wonder why they were friends as well.

Shinichi rolled his eyes and ducked out from underneath Kaito ignoring how the magician seemed to stay afloat in the air as if he was still leaning against something. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "So, can I get either of you anything to drink?" he asked like the polite host that he hadn't been when Kaito came barging in the first time.

Aoko shook her head and grinned, the expression only a few degrees below what Shinichi would consider suspicious. "No. We're going to go out today! It's our day off and it's probably the last time Ka-" she coughed, "Kid will let us be here with him ever again so we're going to make the most of it. So come on!" She grabbed Kaito's arm and dragged him from his position and began dragging him towards the door, ignoring the stream of protests that followed it.

Shinichi blinked and turned to Hakuba who shrugged. "It's best to go along with it. She can be as stubborn as her father when it comes to things like this," he said before starting towards the door.

"Inspector Nakamori right? Head of the castle guard?" Shinichi followed quickly, locking the doors behind him. "Quite the character if I must say so."

Hakuba nodded his agreement as the two struck up easy conversation on the various officers they knew or cases they've worked or their love of fictional detectives as they followed after Aoko and the begrudging Kid.

* * *

Honestly, Shinichi was a little shocked with just how nice the day had been going. There was a reason he mainly stayed holed up in his home and let people and police come to him with cases and he had been sure that something was going to happen. That's just the way the world worked for him and it was a reality, he'd long since come to accept.

But today… Today had been fun.

They'd gone out to the markets and shopped around, grabbed something to eat at a quiet restaurant near the edges of town, got dessert from one of the bakeries, and Kid even put on a small performance in the square. It was a calm, relaxing sort of day that had him lowering his guards and just _living_ for a moment or two. It helped that Hakuba and Aoko were both good conversation partners for all Kid seemed to disagree with that. Kid's small frustration that came with seeing just how well the detectives got along only made the day that much more amusing.

It was a nice break but that made it all the more disheartening when a scream shattered the jovial atmosphere of the square and suddenly he was back to reality. With only a passing look, Shinichi and Kid were on the move. Shinichi headed towards the body and primary witness while Kid dealt with damage control and shouted for someone to call the town guard.

Neither were able to spare the time to look to the two castle guards who didn't deal with death on such a normal basis.

It was just a normal day after all.

Just another killer to bring in.

* * *

The sun was setting as the trio slowly made their way back to the castle in much lower spirits than they had left it.

Aoko was still looking a little pale and Hakuba was a tad more tense than normal.

Kaito could only sigh. They weren't used to the curse that followed Kudo Shinichi and while Kaito would always be able to firmly say he hated death and hated those that killed even more, he would also be able to say you got used to having it happen whenever you went out.

He hated that but he also knew that Shinichi hated it more and had gone through most of his life dealing with it all _alone_. Kaito couldn't let him do that and if his desk at home was overflowing with books and diagrams about curses and the removing of such, he would never say, but hopefully one day Shinichi Kudo would be able to walk through town completely at ease, knowing that death wasn't going to haunt him that day.


End file.
